FOR reasons which many persons thought ridiculous, Mrs. Lightfoot Lee decided to pass the winter in Washington. She was in excellent health, but she said that the climate would do her good. In New York she had troops of friends, but she suddenly became eager to see again the very small number of those who lived on the Potomac...

Democracy :An American Novel, a political novel and anonymously published in 1880. It is a quintessential Washington novel about political power, its acquisition, use and abuse. It is set at the beginning of a new administration, with the election campaign just over and the new President of the United States just having been elected. However, all the characters depicted are entirely fictitious.Adams' book deals with a dishonest Midwestern senator and suggests that the real source of corruption lies in the unprincipled attitudes of the wild and lawless West. The novel reflected his loss of faith.

Henry Adams（1838-1918）, a historian, man of letters and member of the Adams political family, being descended from two U.S. Presidents.He was best known for his History of the United States During the Administration of Thomas Jefferson, a 9-volume work, praised for its literary style, but sometimes criticised for inaccuracy. Adams is noted for an ironic literary style coupled with a detached, often bitter, tone.